GREENSBORO – The Greensboro Ladies Walking Society (GLWS) is an informal, loosely organized group of women who “are very conscious of how important it is to get up three mornings a week and do something and be with people to avoid isolation and sloth!” said Cilla Bonney-Smith. She’s the host of coffee and muffins on Fridays from November to May, because there’s plenty of available parking at her house along Breezy Avenue. The only male involvement is that her husband Nat plugs in the coffee while she walks, snowshoes or sometimes skis.
muffins and other snacks after their morning outing that began at the Town Hall with some walking and some snowshoeing to Barr Hill Road, the morning of Friday, Feb. 21. Long reads from a Greensboro Historical Society publication about Greensboro high school graduates, of which she is the only living graduate of the class of 1953.
photo by Paul Fixx
The group is “mindful of the road crew for snow plowing and during mud season so we park only at three places during winter and mud season,” Bonney-Smith said; “Mondays at the ballfield, Wednesdays at Campbell’s Corners and Fridays at the town hall.”
She says there are no rules for joining. “All are welcome, enthusiastic walkers and strollers alike. Many have joined as newcomers to the town and are welcomed and helped with basic rural knowledge such as what grippers are best to prevent falling; where to find a primary care physician, a pharmacy, a dentist; when property taxes are due; which roads are impassable; what are the town hall, Giving Closet and library hours.”
The group acts as a recruiting organization for volunteer work such as Meals on Wheels, various local boards, town committees and celebrations; and more intimately, who needs a ride to rehab or soup when someone is sick, she said.
They also have some special celebrations for decade birthdays, collectively with traditional guessing games, for example, she said. They post ancient photos of celebrants and list obscure facts about them. Post Christmas, they have a wretched gift potluck party and carpool to special walks. Most recently they traveled over the border to explore Quebec.
While it may seem like it’s more about social activities, Bonney-Smith says, some days as many as nine people have skied a loop from the town hall through Perron’s fields and back. GLWS participants walk, ski or snowshoe depending on the weather and their physical abilities, often getting sweaty for their hour’s exertion.
“It’s great exercise and gets us up and out of bed in the morning, with the added benefit of community connections,” she offered.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
Cilla Bonney-Smith
